Back to School

Welcome to the new year!  It's hard to believe it's January, because the weather has been amazing.  We can all say that recess was our favorite subject as we came back to school! Our classroom has seen a few changes with the flip of the calendar.  One of our good friends and classmates moved away this week (we'll miss you!), but we also got to welcome a new friend to our class.  Kyla is new to our school, and we're so happy she's here!

This week has been busy as we start lots of new projects.  Our goal for this semester is to have a "Circle Up" time a few days a week at the beginning of the day.  This will be a way for our class to get to know each other more and to practice good character.

In Communications, we are reading about Kansas.  We learned that one side of Kansas has a much higher elevation than the other side due to the Rocky Mountains to the west of our state.  We also learned that Mount Sunflower is the highest point in Kansas, but we'll let you in on a little secret...it's not a mountain at all, just a really big hill!  In writing, we began a huge project.  Do you ever read Time Magazine?  Every year they name a "Person of the Year."  We're pretending the year is 2031, and that we have won this prestigious award.  Over the next few weeks, we'll be writing magazine articles telling about why we have been named Person of the Year, and we will be illustrating a cover for the magazine.  Big news...our entire class is almost done with Sunflower Reader...only 3 more students need to finish for all of us to have met our goal!

In math we started reviewing shapes for the math assessment, and then we kept working on advanced multiplication.  We are learning two-digit by two-digit multiplication, and some of us have moved on to three digits!  We wanted to show you how we handle this kind of multiplication, so we made a video describing how to complete lattice multiplication.  Check it out!

 

In social studies, we began studying Kansas by creating a map of our state.  We'll be using this map all month to explore the land, economy, weather, and other aspects of our state. Kansas day is January 29! 

The most exciting thing happened today in our classroom.  A giant mystery box appeared at the front of the room.  Well, it actually appeared at the back of the room, but Ms. J.  carried it to the front.  We really want to see what's inside, but Ms. J. said she won't open it until Tuesday.  We know that the box is going to be used for social studies, and that it is from the Kansas State Historical Society.  We can't wait to find out what's inside, but you'll have to stay tuned to find out, just like us!

Our postcard project has made GREAT progress.  However...we still need postcards from 17 states!  Please check out our postcard geography page to see if you can help.  Many of the states we are missing are in the southern and eastern  United States.  This week we got lots of postcards from Pitt State Gorillas.   Thanks to all the Gorillas sending us mail...you've helped a lot!